Maintenance & Restoration

Carl V · 05-11-2017, 10:25 AM

Check for this:
Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground Testing

Darwin Maring · 05-11-2017, 10:48 AM

Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground Testing

This is exactly what I stated.

steve dunham · 05-11-2017, 11:12 AM

If the service ground at the main service is poor , then you could get a shock off the frame . Many times when wiring buildings we would be drilling holes in the steel structure and you would draw an arc when touching the drill bit to the building steel . That's because the ground on the drill was a better ground than the service ground. I' ve seen this in older homes where people were getting shocks when they touched the faucet and SS sink at the same time. There was a difference in potential.
One other thing to look at , did the OP hook up a neutral to the equipment grounding bus in the trailer panel.
In my old Scamp the previous owner tied the neutral or equipment ground into any bus that had a spare hole.

Shut off all the breakers in your trailer , then take an ohm meter and at the cord cap on your trailer's service cord see it there is continuity between the three pins on the cord cap.
The readings should all be infinity.

dblcola · 05-12-2017, 06:14 AM

I changed to a different outlet, on the house, that I had an electrician add a few years ago outside, and my problem went away. It is for a 30 amp plug.

Now there is 5-6 volt's at the landing gear but no shock.

But the little 3 light meter shows an open ground in the trailer now, before when shocking it tested ok inside. Make any sense?

Joe Romas · 05-12-2017, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.T.

I changed to a different outlet, on the house, that I had an electrician add a few years ago outside, and my problem went away. It is for a 30 amp plug.

Now there is 5-6 volt's at the landing gear but no shock.

But the little 3 light meter shows an open ground in the trailer now, before when shocking it tested ok inside. Make any sense?

So you have had a 30 amp RV outlet all along, why were you not using it??

Sounds to me like you have/had two problems, your house and your trailer.

I still think you should hire a good electrician for your house and trailer.

Joe

dblcola · 05-12-2017, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Romas

So you have had a 30 amp RV outlet all along, why were you not using it??

Sounds to me like you have/had two problems, your house and your trailer.

I still think you should hire a good electrician for your house and trailer.

Joe

1-I had to borrow a 30 amp extension cord.
2-Yes you are right
3-Because of the uniqueness of our trailers and my somewhat remote location I hoped to find a solution among the many owners who have had this problem before. I don't think you'll find an electrician around here with RV experience.

Jon Vermilye · 05-12-2017, 07:06 AM

Any time you receive a shock from the frame of a trailer, you have 2 problems or faults. The first is leakage (a "fault") to the frame. This could be a loose or broken wire, a failed water heater or refrigerator element, failed converter or other appliance, or improperly added wiring.

The second problem is a faulty ground system. If the trailer grounding system is correct & the trailer is plugged into a correctly wired receptacle, a fault to ground capable of carrying high current will trip the source circuit breaker or fuse. If fault to ground has enough resistance that it limits the current to under the rating of the circuit breaker, a good ground will carry most of the fault current, preventing a shock. This is why it is important to have a continuous low resistance ground connection.

Both problems need to be addressed. If you solve the open ground problem, don't stop there. While the shock goes away, sooner or later you are going to end up in an "open ground" situation where the shock hazard shows up again. Another problem with a ground fault is most GFCIs will trip - you may find yourself in a location where the only receptacle is a GFCI. I've run into two US campgrounds (both in Missouri) that had GFCI 30 amp receptacles!

Find the source for the fault to the frame & fix it. Shutting off the trailer breakers one at a time, unplugging or disconnecting appliances, etc will help identify where the problem is located. Again, typical ground faults are caused by bad electrical heater elements, older transformer type converters, and broken, loose or damaged insulation 120V wiring.